During his season ending press conference, Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis was asked by Jason Botchford about Mason Raymond's future with the team, and whether or not Gillis still believes in the speedster. Gillis responded as such:

"We had a lot of success in previous years, now we have to recognize that changes have to be made. I'm not going to commit today to what those changes will be, I think I need more time. I don't want to make decisions hastily or based on emotion."

That was pretty much the tenor of the entire press conference.

Read past the jump for more.

On Thursday afternoon in the media centre in the bowels of what was once called "GM Place," briefly was known as Canada Hockey Place and is now known as Rogers Arena, a humbled Mike Gillis talked about needing to "reset" but not "rebuild."

He talked about a review process that would spare no one in the organization, and gave no definitive answer on Alain Vigneault's future behind Vancouver's bench.

The most definitive nugget he gave us was his strong suggestion that Luongo has played his last game in a Canucks uniform.

There was a somber tone to the proceedings, frankly, and now we're left to watch and see exactly what "significant changes" the team puts into action.

In terms of excuses, Mike Gillis touched on the change in style of play league-wide - even though his club was ironically defeated in a special teams heavy series - and he touched on injuries, and the lockout which made for a "messed up season."

"When I look at every other team in the league, this was such a messed up season from start to finish with the uncertainty of the lockout the repercussions coming out of the lockout - the landscape certainly changed from the summer time to the last opportunity we did have to make changes.

The shortened season had teams competing right up until the last day of the season. So historically some of those teams would've been out signifcaintly earlier and we had limited opportunities to do the things we wanted to do. We had significant injuries the whole year, which didn't help. But it's my job to give the coach the best players we could possibly give him. Regardless of what happened in a shortened season that's my responsbility that's my job"

Implied in that answer is that he failed at his job this season, by his own assessment. Let it not be said that Mike Gillis didn't at least ownership of Vancouver's postseason ineptitude this year.

Still, he didn't talk about blowing it all up and seemed to suggest that the club will more or less stick with their core pieces, "we need to supplement our core group of players that are here as best we can and then look at other possibilities." He also left the door wide open for the organization to retain Alain Vigneault, though he didn't necessarily give him the strongest endorsement either:

"I think Alain is a great coach. I think he's done a remarkable job here in the face of lots of adversity. I can't think of another team that has gone through the tragedies that we have in the last four to five years and done it with dignity and respect."

In summary, Mike Gillis didn't show us his hand today. But that's fine, an early playoff outster gives you extra time for self-evaluation and it's on the organization to make the most of that time. Being deliberate and unemotional going forward is the right approach, even if I thought some of Mike Gillis' comments about rushing prospect into the lineup were a bit odd. We'll see Mike Gillis play his cards over the next few months (and rest assured we'll track it closely at this blog). It should be fascinating, frankly.

The quote that sticks with me from the Press Conference, however, was when Gillis stated that "five years ago we came in here and reset the organization and it’s time to do it again." Ignoring the regular season success, and the postseason success too, it seems like Mike Gillis's tenure has come full circle. In his own words: the organization is back to where it started when he found it a half decade ago. I'm not sure that's what Canucks fans were hoping to hear today...

Thomas Drance lives in Toronto, eats spicy food and writes about hockey. He is the editor in chief of the Nation Network (a.k.a Overlord), and an opinionated blowhard to boot. You can follow him on twitter @thomasdrance.

Now we see Schneider taking over for a valueless Luongo and the team needed as much offense as it did 5 years ago.

We can even see him doing things he said he didn't like doing, such as giving that extra contract year to older players like Burrows, Higgins, Garrison etc. As well as trading futures for pure rentals as he did in the Derek Roy trade.

A serious retool is needed. Whether he's the right guy for the job or not, and there is little evidence that he is the right guy, Gillis is going to have that chance.

Lets just hope the owner doesn't give him more than one or two chances because his transaction record should not merit a long leash.

OMFG. They need more TIME. As if all the choking and pathetic failures were not glaring enough. Gillis and AV are like roaches in a downtown eastside hotel you can never get rid of. Now we all know what the true problem with the Canucks are, Gillis and the idiot owners. What a lying sack of crap Gillis is. I have lost all respect for this organization, I'd call them a mickey mouse organization but I don't want to insult Disney. If what happened this year and the other choke years are not bad enough for them, then get ready for another 44 years of crap.

How gillis can sit there and believe that raymond are their futures has got to be the biggest insult to the fans. All this is not surprising, as Gillis has NO clue about what hes doing and hes calling bluff and seeing if the morons will come back to GM place next year. The only thing the players can do now is request a trade out of this mickey mouse franchise or lose 20 games early next season so that way the two doughboys, Av and Gillis will get sacked.

Scotty Bowman was right, to win a cup, it all starts with the owners. The Aquillinis are nothing more than either really dumb people or just looking for another bottomline. Bet you Gillis was saying the same thing to them, " look at all the money we made from the morons, who really cares if we suck during post season? Were the Cancuks...we alwasy sucka nd alwasy will!"

M"I think Alain is a great coach. I think he's done a remarkable job here in the face of lots of adversity. I can't think of another team that has gone through the tragedies that we have in the last four to five years and done it with dignity and respect."

Cry me a river Mikey. This is hockey, not a drama, youre team sucked because you sucked as a GM. You seriously think that a full season to "do what you wanted to do" would have made them into contenders? Youre the biggest JOKE I've ever seen in the league, and I've been watching for decades. Maybe you should cry to the league and ask them to give you a last place prize as well.

I guess mercy is something the owners and this joke of a GM cant even give its fans.Get ready folks for more years of abysmal failure. Hope they stink in the regular season as well, they cant win in the post when it counts, hopefully, there is a god and they'll stink in the regulars season where it doesnt count as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how they top their garbage.

You know gillis is never going to fire AV because AV is the only one who knows anything about hockey in that organization, as faulty as it is. If any other coach came here, gillis knows he would be exposed just like his team was exposed by Boston.

Pathetic little sweaty excuse maker Gillis is. Blame the short season, blame the league rules, blame everything for your failures. You knew this was going to happen...weasels like Gillis dont fire themselves or their friends. You cant convince ppl like Gillis of anything, you have to watch them fall on their own swords and watch them suffer.

Every aspect of that franchise is rotten and its lead by someone who's more bothered to try and save his own skin, even if its keep the same crap core, the same crap coach, the same crap scouting. Vancouverites will someday look back with convulsion at how gillis screwed their franchise even further into the ground. gillis knows that after this, NO other team in the league will give this guy a job.

Look for Gillis to claim success if they win 3 games in the first round or make it past the 1st round. Reviews? Who's reviewing this joker of a GM? He must have blackmailed the owners to keep his job, like tell them that NO ONE will come in to fix the mess he made.

But hey, let not rush this, Gillis says he needs MORE TIME. 44 years of stinking isnt enough time. Take your time gillis, after all, you cant top your failures if you dont have time. LOL.

What the heck is going on with comments around here lately? It's gone from thoughtful and considerate discussion to the dregs of CDC almost overnight.

I've had the same feeling of late, Matt. I have a sinking feeling that this rational forum has, indeed, been discovered...and, so, the rabid nature of some of those "dregs of CDC" is seeping into our stream!

But, good post, Thomas. Nothing at all surprising in what Gillis said, or left unsaid. Of course, listening to such twits as Blake Price afterwards, Gillis has to be condemned for not not making the team bigger and faster (despite the conflict there!). As if players who fit that bill are easily obtainable!

Given the apparent depth of this year's draft, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gillis try to load up on more picks, especially in the 2nd round (say hello to Mr Roy!).

1. Gillis mentioned Corrado, Gaunce and Lain as young guys they could bring in to help with the cap. How many of those do you think are on the roster next season?

2. Does that affect whether we resign Lapierre? Getting rid because he had a poor year, or because of cost? He can play a checking role on the wing and PK. Worth keeping around.

3. What will happen with Schroeder? Doesn't seem to fill any immediate needs we have but would be a cheap 3C. MG wants to get bigger - does he have a future here?

4. Will Booth get bought out? Can we get anyone better/bigger at that cap hit? Seemed to have some chemistry with Kassian before his injury. Gillis didn't mention Jensen - if Booth stays is there room for him

5. Our problem is scoring: Do we get a 3C who can provide offence, or an enabler for the Sedins and Kesler?

6. How much will Tanev cost to resign?

7. We played defensive hockey, didn't score much and were poor defensively against SJ. Is Gillis serious about playing even more defensively? Is so, should he be fired - who in Van wants the team to go in this direction? Aquilinis?

8. Do we need a puck moving d-man? Can we afford one along with Bieksa, Hamhuis, Garrison, Tanev and Edler? Would there be any point trading Edler and bringing in another offensive d-man? Would Streit be too expensive/old?

9. Could Ballard be useful at his cap hit under another coach?

10. Has the Toronto offer for Luongo put a ceiling on what we'll get back for Luongo in the summer?

I went back and read a blog article from 2011 at Objective NHL entitled, “How often does the Best Team Win?”

Yes this analysis was open to lots of criticism about its validity, but, I haven’t seen any other “studies” trying to answer this question, and it gives at least a bit of a basis to think about the supposition that MG makes about winning the SC (if you just get in the playoffs each year you have a chance to win it), plus, it gives a bit of information about what expectations we as fans should have about the chances of our team winning the SC if they do make the playoffs.

Statistically over the course of a couple of hundred simulated seasons, in the “post lockout era,” the “best team” has the best goal differential about 40% of the time, wins the President’s Trophy about a third of the time, and wins the SC about 20% of the time (about once every 5 seasons). It also finishes in the bottom half of the league 1-2% of the time. Of course the teams that aren’t the “best team” have lower percentages.

The study did not report how often the “best team” got swept in the first round (and BTW, Vancouver was not by any stretch any where near the “best team” this year).

I still think that although luck may play a large role in winning the cup, you have to maximize your chance yourself by putting the best team effort you can out each game each year.

If the Canucks cannot improve the goal scoring part of their game through a coaching change or player changes, or both, they are not going to improve their chances of winning the SC next year. I am not convinced yet that a GM change would make a difference. How many cups have Detroit won since 2007-2008?

Canucks and Gillis need to bring in big power forwards who are North American, no more of these puny half wit Europeans that shy away from physical contact come playoffs.

Keep Burrows and Kesler and put Niklas Jensen on their line and bring in a strong third and fourth line of guys all over 6 feet tall that are Canadians. Couple that with 1-2 good fighters and a solid defense and Luongo in net and there is a Stanley Cup winning team right there. It isnt rocket science Gillis. Its hockey, bog, strong, gritty Canadians that come to play every night!!!

Hmm, I can't recall exactly, but if I'm not mistaken MG said pretty much the identical thing he said last year after being ousted by the Kings, and we all know what changes were made last year...a little discouraging.

One thing I notice people are forgetting is that you can't just go out and get the players you want, it's just not that easy - it doesn't work that way.

> The holes and necessary upgrades (scoring/physical winger, checking centre) were obvious from the beginning

One of the biggest holes was a right side defenceman to play with Edler. And while Schultz didn't pan out, Garrison has more than made up for it (even if he didn't end up playing with Edler.) Even if there were holes, that doesn't mean he could wave a magic wand and procure the players he wanted without trading away other key players and opening up other holes.

> Not to mention spending $9.5 million on Luongo & Ballard was a predictably poor use of cap space.

This comment has the benefit of foresight. At the time those deals were made, they were both major wins. He managed to sign one of the top 3 goaltenders in the league (or the world?) for a cap hit of $5.3M. That was huge! Ballard was a legitimate top 4 D who was great on the powerplay. How could Gillis have predicted he wouldn't work out (he might still work out if AV is gone and if he doesn't get bought out.)

> The above would be fine if he had drafted, traded or signed free agents with better success.

The Canuck's great regular season record has prevented him from drafting as well as the Oilers. Success is a double edged blade. He got Booth (who I still think is good, even if he doesn't have "finish") for next to nothing. He signed Lapierre and Higgins, both of whom have become part of the core of the team. He managed to resign the Sedins (in their prime) for a very reasonable salary. They have the 42nd and 43rd highest salaries in the NHL. Cam Ward, Mikko Koivu and Jay Bouwmeester make more money than they do!

It's easy to attack Gillis' record from the safety of your armchair with 20/20 hindsight, but if you evaluate him and his moves fairly, he's done a very good job.

Not only is it hard to go out and get the players you might covet, but this season (and Gillis was dead on) it was crazy hard! I wish people would not treat this half-ass season as if it were any regular season. How the hell can a GM do anything in the way of trades or acquisitions when no one (except Bettman's inner circle) knew not only when the season might start, but even if there was going to be a season at all! I do think that Gillis had the right idea during the summer - that he was going to wait until the season was starting before dangling Luongo. In a normal season, it was appropriate strategy. Given how last summer and fall unraveled for the NHL, it was a mistake.

I'm not going to condemn the guy for not being able to foresee CBA negotiations, player injuries, and the total drying up of special teams. But there's no doubt now about the weaknesses of this team!

Ballard and Lou were a predictably poor use of cap space for 2013. That is not hindsight. Everyone knew it.

It's easy to throw out phrases like "hindsight is 20/20". We know this. But that doesn't mean Gillis should be immune from criticism.

But give me some examples of the good transactions he has made that don't involve resigning players he inherited (this isn't really a skill).

Ehrhoff was excellent. Hamhuis & Garrison have been good, though the Canucks had a geographical advantage that has nothing to do with the GM. Tanev has been good as a 3rd pairing dman. Higgins is a good 3rd liner.

The Hodgson return looked underwhelming when it happened and that hasn't changed. Ballard and Booth looked fine at the time.

But Tallon gave those players away for a reason. They weren't "bad" moves by Florida and, in hindsight, they look good for Florida.

Not to mention all the draft picks that have been traded with little to show for it. Two picks for Bernier, a 1st rounder for Ballard a 2nd rounder for Roy a 3rd rounder for Alberts who was absolutely awful his first year.

Where is the ROI on the draft picks traded?

Where is the ROI on all the money invested in player development?

Gillis gets way too much credit for two reasons.

1) He happened to be the GM of the team when the core he inherited blossomed.

2) He embraces analytics. Hence, the online community likes him.

JP Ricciardi was the darling of the sabermetric community for years. But by the time the Blue Jays canned him, it was pretty evident he was no better than average at his job.

I'm not calling for Gillis' head this minute. But I think people should focus far more on management's shortcomings than the coach.

I definitely think it's time for Alain Vigneault to be let go. General Manager mistakes aside, back-to-back first round exits for a team fresh off back to back President's trophies and a Final appearance is unacceptable. The team needs a new voice and a new direction.

The more we look back at the last five years, the more it seems like Gillis has run his course as well. His bold moves have almost uniformly been huge flops.

In fact...a lot of the positives from this regime seem to have come more from Assistant General Manager Lawrence Gilman. Perhaps it's time to let him steer the ship and see if he can turn it in the right direction?

I've made no secret of my desire to see Lindy Ruff installed as the new Canucks head coach. Barring that, I honestly believe only Dave Tippet, should he become available, would be an upgrade over AV.

As for player movement, it's obvious that most of the free agents should be let go. Obviously Tanev should be resigned.

Lapierre is the only other player that I wouldn't mind bringing back.

Ballard and Booth for amnesty buy-outs.

In terms of outside Free Agents, acquiring Boyd Gordon should be the upmost priority. This team got absolutely murdered on face-offs, and hasn't had a decent third-line centre since Malhotra's injury.

I wouldn't mind throwing an offer Raffi Torres way either. His physicality is sorely missed.

Colby Amrstrong is another physical depth forward I'd like the Canucks to target. Vancouver needs to get tougher, but they also need bigger, physical players that can play. Enough of guys like Sestito.

I also have to agree with the segment that advocates trading Schneider and keeping Lou. With a new coach and possibly GM, I'm sure the relationshionship with Lou can be repaired. We committed to him, he's the best goaltender in franchise history and he was once our captain.

Schneider has along way to go before reaching Lou's calibre. But he has much more trade value. Possibly for Josefson (who I wanted the Nucks to draft instead of Schroeder), Urbom and a pick from Jersey. Or Schenn/Couturier from Philly.

Lack may develop into a successor for Lou, though obviously the organization needs to start drafting/developing some other options.

So, in my ideal world, the team would look something like this next season:

What the heck is going on with comments around here lately? It's gone from thoughtful and considerate discussion to the dregs of CDC almost overnight.

Probably got linked to on twitter or something by a blogger who covers a different team, so the haters showed up. I can't imagine the in-depth, stats-based analysis CA does would appeal to the kinds of retards commenting here.

CA could definitely use some moderation in the comment section, though. It's gotten big enough that you can't rely on self-selection of its readers to keep the idiots away.

The best team does win, Every year one team wins the Stanley cup..that team is the BEST team. Not the team that is over over rated and chokes every post season.

How many cups has Detroit won? They won a heck of a lot more than the Canucks ever have. In fact, Carolina has won a cup, and they grow sugar cane there.

There's always luck involved with anything in life, but don't make excuses and say that the cup is won out of luck, its cheapens the teams who have actually worked hard and won it. The canucks have no business winning a cup, and 44 years of sucking proves it.

You mention a lot of stats and numbers, but remember, trophies are for winners, losers talk about stats and numbers.

The GM is the one who built and manages the team. If he gets highschool kids to play on the ice and loses, than whos fault is it? But hey, this is the Canucks here, the franchise, its players and it's so called fans do NOT believe in a thing called accountability, only EXCUSES.

Get ready for the 45th year of sucking. Fans like you deserve what you ask for, the same old status quo sucking. hip hip Sedin! Hip hip Sedin!

Don't call others trolls simply because they see the truth and come out and say it. Not every wants to sugar coat crap. Fans like you ARE the reason why the team has been terrible for over 4 decades. You see losses as wins. You believe that they can win despite facts, despite results. You should apply for a job with that franchise seeing as how no matter how badly they lose, no one is held accountable. Or maybe you work for them already. Well, that might explain it. LOL

Man, you're as blind as they come. Are you sure you don't work for the Canucks? I guess this year was a success, wasn't it? Mam, I hope the team has years and years of this success. who wants to win some stupid cup when they can get embarrassed in the first round? who needs a real captain when they have the sisters? Thank you for opening my eyes. I had it all wrong, I thought competitive pro sports was about winning, now I realize it's about LOSING.

Its too hard to get players, it's too hard to make trades, it's too hard to draft players, it's too hard to win games, it's too hard to get a captain who isn't a woman, it's too hard to find a good coach.

THEN WHY ARE YOU A G.M, GILLIS? WHAT ARE YOUR BOSSES PAYING YOU FOR ? OH RIGHT, THEY'RE PAYING YOU TO SUCK.LOL

I don't think the original poster used the term "trolls". He used "dregs", which I disagree with. All comments, including those critical of team management and coaching, are valuable contributions.

However, the original poster was probably hoping for comments that provide more insight on how the team can be improved. For example:

- "you sucked as a GM" is a valid opinion. But unless there's a clearly better GM available to the Canucks, the comment provides little insight.
- "it's too hard to get a captain who isn't a woman". Obviously the Sedins aren't women and unless there is a better captain available to the Canucks, the comment provides little insight.
- "You mention a lot of stats and numbers, but remember, trophies are for winners, losers talk about stats and numbers". Trophies are the end product of good team building, and that often involves careful analysis of stats and numbers. If the poster has ideas on how to build a good team without looking at stats and numbers, please enlighten us all.

44 years of losing...does that enlighten you enough? Or do you need a chart? 44 years of losing says you, the canucks, dont have an ounce of room left for excuses or optimistic delusions.

Here's the best advice for those who enjoy losing. Find something in light that you suck at..and DON'T do that thing. Clearly everything Gillis and Av and their team has done has sucked. Try NOT doing those things next time, duh?

The excuses coming from Gillis is beyond sickening. They have to change their way of playing cause the league has changed? I heard that before, right after the rape of Boston. So what did gillis do? He got rid of any heart skilled grit and kept chokers like the sisters.
Oh, I'm WAAAY off base to suggest that the sisters are chokers in the post season, arent I?
It's never the sisters fault, it's never luongo, Raymond, Edlers fault. It's gotta be Ballard. the fanboys are now talking about Luongo as if he won the first two games in this series, or that he's actually won something in this league. Give it a ret, sheeesh, luongo is old, lets in soft goals and CANT win when it COUNTS. That's a fact, not an oppinion. And even if he gets traded and wins 5 cups in a row with another team still doesnt cover the fact that he was a play off BIG GAME CHOKER Here, along with the Sedins, etc.

there are only two things in pro sports that matter, winning or losing. the line is a very fine one. Consolation prizes are for children, not multi millionaire chokes and their handlers. Gillis still believes in this core. Belief..BASED ON WHAT? ON LOSING? The only thing worse than Gillis as GM is that delsuional twat Don Taylor, who gets paid to be a Canuck apologist and excuse maker. Why bother? the Grizzlies suycked, but at least they never jerked their fans around by going to post season and wasting more time there.

Like i said, when you you've been losing for 44 years, you dont have any more room for good feelings and BS optimism or chances. The whole organization is full of noting but EXCUSE MAKERS. biggest laughing stock in the whole league.

"the Canucks here, the franchise, its players and it's so called fans do NOT believe in a thing called accountability, only EXCUSES."

I am sure the owners of the Canucks believe in accountability. I am sure management, players, and most fans do too. However, it does no good to just dismiss GMs, coaches, and players unless you have comparable or better replacements. It'd be great if people can list some possible replacements with justification.

"44 years of losing...does that enlighten you enough?" doesn't provide any enlightenment. Why don't you recommend some things the team can do to win? For example, what GM can they hire? What coach? Which players can they acquire and how to do so?

Unfortunately I have to concur. 5 years ago the Sedins were ready to takeover for Naslund. Also, as the poster stated, there were high end prospects/young players in the organization. It's not clear how the Canucks can obtain needed high end prospects/young players today.

Hey Habs, how does getting trounced by an injuries depleted senators team feel?

Go be verbally abusive elsewhere.

As for GMMG: He really needs to do something soon to prove he hasn't inherited Brian Burke's good work. I'd hate to see the Canucks become the Ducks, despite their lucky year this year.

I think AV's time may be done. He won't be unemployed long, he's an excellent, but he's had a long tenure with this team, and two early exits is probably enough to justify trying something else, at what other point do you fire a coach? If he isn't gone, expect the associate coaches to be on the block: Special teams and the second D pairing were nightmares this year and if they aren't fixed, we might have a problem. I'm not crazy about Tanev/Corrado/Bieksa with Edler, unless something changes in the systems to make it work.

Edler is too expensive to be a soft parade pp specialist. He needs to be put in a position where he can be trusted against at the very least 2nd line talent and win the battle. And I don't think catching lightning in a jar with Erhoff will happen again: the coaches need to fix this and perhaps a change in coaches will address this.

Hey Habs, how does getting trounced by an injuries depleted senators team feel?

Go be verbally abusive elsewhere.

As for GMMG: He really needs to do something soon to prove he hasn't inherited Brian Burke's good work. I'd hate to see the Canucks become the Ducks, despite their lucky year this year.

I think AV's time may be done. He won't be unemployed long, he's an excellent, but he's had a long tenure with this team, and two early exits is probably enough to justify trying something else, at what other point do you fire a coach? If he isn't gone, expect the associate coaches to be on the block: Special teams and the second D pairing were nightmares this year and if they aren't fixed, we might have a problem. I'm not crazy about Tanev/Corrado/Bieksa with Edler, unless something changes in the systems to make it work.

Edler is too expensive to be a soft parade pp specialist. He needs to be put in a position where he can be trusted against at the very least 2nd line talent and win the battle. And I don't think catching lightning in a jar with Erhoff will happen again: the coaches need to fix this and perhaps a change in coaches will address this.

You're right. I apologize. I had it all wrong. Let's keep Gillis, AV, the whole team, the scouting and keep the status quo. Let's do the same thing again ext year, and the next, and the next. Let's not do anything, cause doing nothing is better than doing anything. Cause the team is doing great. They got great coaching, great players, a great GM and great scouting.

In case you couldnt tell I was being sarcastic.

What coach, what GM, which players? I guess it's illegal for them to TRADE for players. I guess it's illegal for them to HIRE a new GM, cause god knows, there no more hockey people left out there to HIRE. I guess you've never heard of the draft as well? Oh wait, IT'S TOO HARD TO DRAFT, TOO HARD TO HIRE A NEW GM, TOO HARD TO HIRE A NEW COACH.

You are so right, it's to hard. Let's just keep the same losers and keep losing on and on and on and on and on and on, cause it's easier to lose than to try to win. Wow man, look at all the cups montreal or detroit has won with that philosphy.

Hey, guess what, I was being sarcastic again.
You sure you don't work for the Canucks?

Brian Burke brought the Sisters into the team. That is hardly good work. Burke got fired in TO.

The Hab fans have been spoiled by past great teams but they till have a past of GLORY to look back on. The Canucks have NOTHING. The hab fans do know what a winning team is supposed to look like, unlike cannuck fansters.

AV is not a good coach, regular season does NOT count.That fluke run to the finals was the exception, not the rule. He plays favorites, half the team has no respect for him, why do you think they played without a care for the last 2 post seasons. You cant respect a coach who gives two sisters more ice time for doing NOTHING than any other player. Players arent stupid, they can see what the problem is...and there is a big problem in that dressing room. the sedins along with AV's other pets are coat tail riders. Once you take away the coat, they suck. If you were a players, would you bust your nbuts and do all the dirty work so that the sisters who dont do ny of it, get success? Thats not how normal human beings operate.

If the Sedin sisters want to score goals, then they should be the ones to go to the dirty areas, they should stop falling down , stop passing shooting opportunities on the PP to the other player who's also passing it away, they should be a leader by actions, not words, they should stick up at least for themselves.They should stop making post game excuses. they should do all those things and justify their ice time to their team-mates. 2 years ago, Boston exposed the Sedins and the majority of this team. The past 2 years, his own team mates exposed them for who they are. It's easy to be a cherry picker when someone else is holding the ladder. the Sedins dont have what it takes, its all been proven.

Speaking of Edler, he needs to realize he's playing for the Canucks, not the opposition. Gretzky didnt fight, but he spoke with his goals, he had an iron will and determination, he had a mental toughness and resolve, he made his team mates batter, he took responsibilty and accountability for any of his failings. I see none of that with the sisters. all i hear day in and day out from them is " i think we DESERVED to win." I think we played well enough to win"and " I think we need to do thinka dn that..."

Shut the F up, Daniel, DON'T SAY IT, DO IT. And if doing too hard for you, then go take up baking, not pro hockey.

No they don't. 44 years of losing says my comments are not far off. Anyone remember the pat Quinn country club era? What came out of that? Nothing. When Keenan traded the so called "stars" and untouchables like Linden, Mc lean, Lumme, how did it turn out for them? Not so good.

At least Bure still scored alot of goals with Florida until his career ended with knee injuries. Yet Lindens jersey is hung up. For what? For wasting ppl's times with disappointment? Speaks volumes about this franchise, doesn't it?

And now all the fanboys are going around making melt down luo look like some cup winning martyr.
Luongo choked against the hawks 2 times before burrows fluke goal on a rolling puck prevented a third meldown. Luongo had another meltdown along with the team in Boston. Av obviously didn;t give a crap because there was melt down luo again in the 7th game. To top that off, 2 losses against the kings to start the series, and of course another 2 LOSSES against San jose in the first two this year. That doesn't sound like a great goalie to me.

this year Luo's lost the first two, and corey the last 2. Now the fanboys are talking like corey lost all 4 and should be traded. Nice logic, since Corey has NEVER had a series to himself, and leaky luo has had a boat load more and failed everyone of them, i guess it's smart to keep the old over-rated goalie who doesnt even want to stay anyway and trade the cheaper, young talent who cant be worse cause LUO's never WON anything. Makes sense. Why give Corey a shot when you can give melt-down Luo more chances? Lets give Luo 20 more years cause he hasn't LOST enough.Let's trade all future talent away so we can give over paid, over rated choke players more chances.

We don't actually need to do much. We have 6 good d-men. In the forward group we need to sign a 4th line and a 3C. If we can get the right players in, those changes will have an effect through the line up.

Put Garrison on PP1.

Have d-men playing on their strong side (Hamhuis-Bieksa, Garrison-Tanev, Edler-Corrado).

Sign PK specialists for the 4th line.

Give Kassian a chance to build chemistry with Kesler and Booth in the top 6.

Replace Manny.

Fire AV. He doesn't seem to motivate the players beyond whatever their natural compete level is. He's not really the problem, but doesn't seem to be the solution either.

"We don't actually need to do much." Unfortunately I think the problems run deeper. As long as the Sedins are the top line, the Canucks will have trouble scoring in the playoffs against good teams. Remember that in 2011, Kesler was really the top line. The Sedins have several moves that they do really well. If the opponent is not prepared for those moves, the Sedins will score a lot. This happens in the regular season, thus all of their scoring titles. In the playoffs, teams scout the opposition extensively and practice stopping specific plays. This extra focus affects the Sedins more than other top players around the league.

I felt relieved listening to Gillis conference today. I remembered that he's a rational, methodical human being who has the ability to see things others in his position might not. He said before the season started that we're in for a wild ride. That things league wide would be unpredictable due to the short season. He was right - though most of us knew it as well.

I am a bit disappointed he didn't rip the referees to shreds. Disgusting display of zebras in that round, something he's seen from them yr after yr. The Canucks PP was working at a similar rate as the Sharks, they just got significantly less PP time to get the goals. This biased officiating will not end, it will be like this till he decides to do something about it. Bit I did agree with his comment about the media not doing it's job with this issue. You guys have the platform and the numbers - why in BLUE HELL is no one writing anything about it???!!!???!!!??? You don't need to write a sob story, just write the facts. Display the bleeping numbers.

There were 4 reffs who officiated the SCF. 2 of them (3 if you include O'ROurke), clearly have a grudge against Canucks from that series"

Sutherland: officiated 9 Canucks games since the debacle in the SCF. Guess how many of those games Canucks opponent had more PP opps than them? NONE

O'Hallaran: officiated 10 Canucks games since the debacle in the SCF. Guess how many of those games Canucks had more PP opps than opponent, 1 FREEKIN GAME.

Not other 2 officials in the entire NHL have those kind of #'s against the Canucks. So I guess that's a coincidence to? A huge coincidence these 2 were reffing the notorious game where Daniel got punched in the face 6 times then got a misconduct.

A coincidence like, the Canucks 2nd STRAIGHT yr of getting the largest PP time differential of any 1st round series (and 2nd largest differential in 10/11 1st round vs Chi). You tell me. 2 years of 1st round series = 16 separate series. What's the probability that 1 team gets shafted for 2 consecutive years in PP time?

If choking to the hawks, getting beat down by the Bruins, and choking 2 more first rounders away is considered a good job, then yeah, let keep Gillis.

there's more ppl out there than just Ruff.

Kesler is the one of the few who actually has some heart, at least he goes out to hit opponents.

Sedins? I don't know how you see that, have they done anything in the post season? No, right? and you STILL want to keep those kind of players around. In the post season, the Sedins don;t score, they dont fight, they dont hit, they dont PK, they dont lead, they dont score on PP, they dont do anything, yet you want them back on your team?

Winning when it counts buys you chances, earns you chances, earns you respect. The Sedins have not earned one more minute of post season ice time. The Sedins and their fans should realize that they are not getting paid for being nice guys. If they arent scoring, and theyre not doing anything, cause they sure as hell aint fighting, PK, battling. than what are they getting paid for? I would trade the Sedins for a bag of cashews just so they can be someone elses problem isn the post season.

Hey AV, you got sucky players on your team, you really think that swapping them on different lines will get you gold? It' doesnt matter how where you move rocks and thumb tacs around on that pizza, it sure as hell doesnt mean youre going to get a prize winning pizza.
Clueless GM, clueless coach, over rated soft players, and an owner who only cares about the bottom line. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe they'll win the cup next year with all those fantastic ingredients. LOL. NOT.

Please recommend some replacements for Gillis, Sedins, etc. and how the Canucks can obtain those replacements. Keep in mind the salary cap and that other teams will want quality players or prospects in any trade.

Sure, it would be me and you. I can be the GM and you can be the Sedin.

We are alot cheaper in salary , and we both SUCK. Come play off time, We can both SUCK. But we are cheaper sucks then the Sedin or Gillis but our results will be the same.

I can mismanage the team just like Gillis and you can do NOTHING in the post season, just like Sedin.

And if you really want to know to how go get players...it's called DRAFTING. It's called TRADING, it's called HIRING people. Have you heard of that better? Please explain to us how Sedin and Gillis got here? Did they fall from the sky? Was Sedin sent to us by the Greek gods?

Now your turn, please explain how Sedin and Gillis got here? How can they get here and yet we cant get RID of them. Please explain to me, Mr. " by law we have to keep GM and SEDINS."

BTW don't feel too relieved. When you see a high paid fat sweaty manager on TV making excuses for losing, it's nothing more than him trying to save his own worthless fat ass. Hope you don't get fooled too easily with what politicians say on TV too.

"please explain how Sedin and Gillis got here? How can they get here and yet we cant get RID of them."

If the Canucks want to just get rid of the Sedins they can put them on waivers and I am sure they'll be claimed. The challenge is how to get some players of value back for the Sedins. Please help with that.

The Canucks can certainly dismiss Gillis, but finding a replacement would be more difficult. Please help with that.

"And if you really want to know to how go get players...it's called DRAFTING. It's called TRADING, it's called HIRING people."

Just saying drafting, trading, and hiring is easy. Please recommend some players to draft and how to get the draft picks to draft them. Please recommend some players to trade for and what the Canucks can give up to get those players. Please recommend some people to hire.

"The Canucks can certainly dismiss Gillis, but finding a replacement would be more difficult. Please help with that."
How so? HOW DO YOU KNOW? It's difficult cause you said so? Do you work for the Canucks? Are you the one in that organization who's doing the hiring ? HOW do YOU know it's difficult to find a GM? Because you THINK SO? Hahaha.

"Just saying drafting, trading, and hiring is easy. Please recommend some players to draft and how to get the draft picks to draft them. Please recommend some players to trade for and what the Canucks can give up to get those players. Please recommend some people to hire."

I already told you. Hire ME and YOU. We can be SUCKY players in the playoffs for alot less than the Sedins.

If you don't like playing with me on the team, then go and look at the many players available in the league, in Europe, in the farm team. Many players for you to choose from.

Please do some research, you make it sound like there's no other players out there except for Sedin. You make it sound like there's no one else out there to GM except Gillis.
Please do some research. Instead of just saying that it's hard to hire people, it's hard to draft, it's hard to trade, it's too HARD.

And again, please do some research. People get fired and hired everyday. Please let us know where Sedin and GM came from, because they're crap. Please tell me again how hard it is to hire a GM, since you seem to know. Please let us know how many GM'S you tired to hire but failed because it was too HARD. Please Enlighten me on how hard it is to find something better than a monkey to be the Canucks GM. Hmm? enlighten me, man.